Culture and Its Effects on Consumer Behaviour
“Of all the environmental influences on consumption decisions, culture is the one that is most encompassing, yet taken most for granted.” (p. 240 The Canadian Perspective, Consumer Behaviour, Second Edition)”
The word culture is derived from the Latin word, cultura. Giving an exact definition of culture is not easy; in 1952, some researchers reviewed 164 definitions of culture. According to Hatch (1985), culture is ‘The way of life of a people. It consists of conventional patterns of thought and behaviour, including values, beliefs, rules of conduct, political organization, economic activity, and the like, which are passed on from one generation to the next by learning- and not by biological inheritance’. It can be said that culture is a very important factor that affects a person’s behavior and perception, consequently affecting marketing strategies of companies. The following are some important characteristics of culture: 1. Culture is comprehensive: this implies that all parts of a culture should fit together in a logical manner 2. Culture is learned: we are not born with culture; it is learnt and shared with others and with the different institutions that we encounter over the course of our lives. 3. Culture is manifested within boundaries of acceptable behaviour: failure to behave within the prescribed norms may lead to punishment for example: being arrested by the police for indecent exposure in public (such as nudity) or being laughed at by other people for wearing a suit on the beach 4. Culture can be static or dynamic: for example, US culture has changed a great deal since the 1950s however in Saudi Arabia culture has remained essentially unchanged. (Perner, L., 2008) Culture exists in multiple forms: it could be of an organization (corporate culture), of an entire country (National culture), or of a group of people within the country (subculture). A subculture consists of people who share common demographics, social characteristics or
The word culture is derived from the Latin word, cultura. Giving an exact definition of culture is not easy; in 1952, some researchers reviewed 164 definitions of culture. According to Hatch (1985), culture is ‘The way of life of a people. It consists of conventional patterns of thought and behaviour, including values, beliefs, rules of conduct, political organization, economic activity, and the like, which are passed on from one generation to the next by learning- and not by biological inheritance’. It can be said that culture is a very important factor that affects a person’s behavior and perception, consequently affecting marketing strategies of companies. The following are some important characteristics of culture: 1. Culture is comprehensive: this implies that all parts of a culture should fit together in a logical manner 2. Culture is learned: we are not born with culture; it is learnt and shared with others and with the different institutions that we encounter over the course of our lives. 3. Culture is manifested within boundaries of acceptable behaviour: failure to behave within the prescribed norms may lead to punishment for example: being arrested by the police for indecent exposure in public (such as nudity) or being laughed at by other people for wearing a suit on the beach 4. Culture can be static or dynamic: for example, US culture has changed a great deal since the 1950s however in Saudi Arabia culture has remained essentially unchanged. (Perner, L., 2008) Culture exists in multiple forms: it could be of an organization (corporate culture), of an entire country (National culture), or of a group of people within the country (subculture). A subculture consists of people who share common demographics, social characteristics or